


Prologue, Episode 1 - "First In"

by Scar1et



Category: Original Work
Genre: Gen, Minor Original Character(s), Original Character(s), Original Fiction, Original Universe
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-06
Updated: 2020-06-06
Packaged: 2021-03-04 07:27:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,869
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24570010
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Scar1et/pseuds/Scar1et
Summary: Fresh off a mission, Squad Alpha-1 of the Western Military Union's Special Operations Branch "Artemis" receives a big assignment from high command.
Collections: Project Peacekeeper





	Prologue, Episode 1 - "First In"

**_“The Pentagon”_ **

**_Washington DC, United States of America_ **

**_Overcast, 1611, 19th of August, 2031_ **

**_Artemis Squad Alpha-1, Debrief after Operation: Homefront_ **

_“As Peacekeepers, our job is to restore and preserve the peace of the Union, and the world. Everything is worth sacrificing for peace.”_

****

Those were the words uttered at the Heroes Day ceremony, by our branch commander. Fitting, considering the state of the Union at this very moment. Riots happen in front of military installments all across the Union. Even as I stepped inside the Pentagon I could hear the incessant protests of the civilians right outside. They’re more disciplined nowadays, since the guards are now armed with non-lethals _and_ lethals.

****

Usually, I would be the one on the fences or near the gates during the protests. I'd be holding a launcher loaded with tear gas in one hand, maybe a riot shield in the other. I would stare down menacingly at the protestors as instructed, even though intimidating stares had never been my strong suit. I never really had to fire my launcher because the guard captain would instruct us to use it only if “things go tits up,” as he eloquently put. That earned a chuckle from some of the guards, for sure. 

****

But, this time I found myself moving into the inner chambers of the Pentagon. Me and my squad. Captain Grimm, or Crow, was busy talking to someone who I’d never seen before. Delta, Bulwark and I were walking together. The other two were having a casual conversation about our last mission, as if it was a trip to the amusement park. I guess this is the culture we have in our squad.

“How did you do it last time, Matt?”

_I hate it when they call me by my first name._

“Did what?” I replied to Delta.

“Sniffed out the last rebels in that hideout. They hid themselves pretty well.”

“It was nothing. I just guessed where they would hide from the floor plan of the complex that we were given.” 

My teammates looked at me in awe. I figured that’s what happens when you’re the only one with “outstanding tactical acumen” according to the captain.

We reached an elevator and quickly descended. Only then did the captain address the rest of us.

“We’re on another assignment after this.” The captain said, seemingly out of nowhere.

_Less than 48 hours after our last one._ “Where, captain?” I inquired.

“Finland.”

“Finland?!” Delta asked, stress showing on her face almost immediately. The captain quickly shot her a glare which reined her in some.

“A shipment of the Styx is possibly heading into Scandinavia. We’ll be situating ourselves in the off-shore supply base in Finland, so we can respond as fast as possible.”

I looked down at the ceramic floor of the elevator, giving myself a moment before speaking. “They’re targeting the vikings again. They tried occupation, this time they’re going for something more brute force.”

_Finland, Sweden, and Norway._ We destroyed their major cities in order to stop vantage points going into the hands of the Dominion. But as with every solution in life, it’s bound to bring along its own problems. The protests, the internal anarchy across the Union, even the sole reason for our treaty falling was because of the usage of nuclear weapons in World War 3. We’re basically fighting a war on two-fronts, all because of our own doing.

_The Union has, at most, strategic listening posts and scout airbases there, plus a supply base that connects from the UK. Shipments would be few and far in between, which means they either have low manpower or halved their supply consumption, which either way puts them at a disadvantage--_

“Did ya guys catch the news, by any chance?” The woman spoke up, stopping my train of thought. “We’re gettin’ closer to that nuclear bill everyone’s been talkin’ about. Gonna stop all military usage of it.” I immediately noticed her Scottish accent.

“We’re royally fucked if the Dominion goes for an attack like last time.” Delta spat out, causing her to apologize afterwards.

“If the bill goes in place, a lot of our old allies could realign with the Union again. Maybe that’s the angle we’re going for; more allies, more firepower.” I chimed in.

“That could net us more territory as well. Europe is a good staging ground for our attacks, but we don’t have the manpower to defend it now,” the woman took out a pack of gum and offered one to each person in my squad, before opening one for herself. 

“We’ve grown past a definite need for nuclear weapons, it’s a luxury now.” She continued.

By then, a large chunk of the Union’s army weren’t even humans anymore, or fully human. Most of them were robots, from the grunts even up to some of the commanders have been turned to our mechanized friends. Only Artemis and Spectre Company still utilized human operators, at most cyborgs like Delta. It was put in place to deal with the lack of manpower and make best of use of what we did have. 

The technology, on the other hand did advance, but not in a major way. We’ve used special ammunition since the end of World War 3 and already started cranking out laser weaponry to effectively deal with the mutants from the Dominion. There’s more utility all around for us to use outside of the conventional ‘FFS’ grenades, as Delta put it. 

_Frag, Flash, Smoke, or ‘for fuckssake’. Don’t know where she got that from, probably from the fact that it barely works on the muties._

“I’m getting outdated in cyborg years,” Delta said, rather solemnly.

“You’re good Whit. You’re still performing.” I replied, trying to assure her.

The elevator opened to the battle room and we stepped off of it. Monitors flickered to life and the sounds of devices and machines came to life, greeting us with an almost harmonious melody. The grand attraction was of course the holographic table in the center of the room, materializing a map of Norway and Finland. Again, I remained in the rear of the pack as we dispersed all around the table.

There were three dots off-shore from Norway and Finland, and around six more scattered in the mainland. _Off-shore supply bases and an airbase, six undercover listening posts._

“Take us away, McKinney.” Crow addressed our UK guest.

“Right. First off, let me introduce myself. Specialist Eira McKinney, callsign ‘dB’, short for decibel. Formerly of the British SAS, recently integrated into the Artemis program and placed in your squad to replace Specialist Banks. I’ll be your new tech and intel operator.”

I looked at my squadmates - I had completely forgotten we were missing one person. Albeit they weren’t gone, they were just moved to a different unit. That didn’t stop the solemn looks from materializing on the others’ faces though, especially Bulwark.

“Shall we carry on with it?” She asked, to which we replied to positively in unison.

“The Danes have given us the green light for this mission, and since a lot of the Artemis boys are deep in their own shit, we’ll have some of my old colleagues with us. We’ll supply up at Churchill FOB first before deploying for the mission.” 

dB quickly spread holographic folders containing pictures of Copenhagen, as well as some long-range snapshots of what seemed to be suspicious individuals.

“These photos were taken in Malmo and then Copenhagen, by the local intelligence agency. These people are under very heavy watch by them, but can’t act against a possible Dominion assault. That’s where we come in. We specifically will be working together with local forces in Denmark in Copenhagen, while SAS squads Bravo-4 and Bravo-5 will be situated with forces in other possible targets.” Specialist McKinney continued.

“It’s likely that each unit won’t be able to respond fast enough if their location turned out to be the wrong spot, so each unit is advised to hold their own until backup can arrive.”

“Representatives of the Union managed to bargain a deal, so the Jaeger Corps will have some units with us on this mission. We’ll be departing for Churchill at dawn, from our stationed base. Any questions?”

“Any intel on the opposition strength?” Bulwark asked.

“It’s highly likely that the individuals in the pictures are only there to pave the way for a possible follow up attack. Possibly Class II or higher enemies. Command already issued an order for Churchill to send scout aircraft towards Sweden, we’ll get the report as soon as we land.”

“We’re playing exterminator now, huh,” quipped Delta.

“Anything for more friends, we need all the help we can get and we can’t possibly shy away from doing the dirty work.” dB replied. 

“It’s… likely that these individuals are operating at a select location only. Have we tried triangulating the location of these individuals using the photos?” I asked, still browsing through the photos.

“They’ve been seen in other parts of the country. Danes are too scared to apprehend or limit them in any way, since they might just turn Copenhagen into a crisp.”

There was a gap of silence, a good five or six seconds. The captain nodded and gathered her slides, before addressing the squad.

“The Danes don’t want to move until we’re there with them. This is a great chance to fix our relationships with the other European countries. We leave at dawn from the AFB.”

**_Churchill FOB_ **

**_Off the coast of Germany, Northern Sea_ **

**_Sunny, 0915, 21st of August, 2031_ **

**_Artemis Squad Alpha-1, Operation: Wrath_ **

Churchill FOB was the fulcrum of Union activity in Northern Europe. It was heavily defended, with smaller but heavily fortified platforms surrounding it and the two accompanying supply bases. The main platform itself was large in size, sporting its own set of gun batteries as defensive countermeasures. It looked large enough to host an entire company of soldiers, though the accurate number operating this sea fortress could be closer to two, three companies.

****

As we arrived, we immediately were shown where our temporary quarters would be. We were to have a chat with the base commander later that same day, so until then we moved to our pre-assigned duties. dB and the captain went to the command room to try and coordinate with the SAS teams in Finland and Sweden, while I went with everyone else to get our equipment checked.

“Blitz really needed a good checking after the last mission,” Delta said to me, scanning her fingerprints on the gun’s safety.

“Did you run diagnostics right after?” I asked, checking my own rifle.

“Yeah. Battery was low on juice, and the chamber needed a little cleaning. Changed holos as well.”

I noticed the smaller, more compact sight on her rifle as she raised it up to eye level and began firing singular rounds to the target down range.

“Big mission.” She said.

I didn’t respond until after she emptied half of her magazine. “Hm?” I acknowledged. She lowered her rifle and looked at me.

  
“This is probably one of the biggest missions we’ll ever be in… and we’ve been in some _big_ ones. Helsinki, Dubai.”

“This is probably the one we have the most chance of winning. We didn’t know what we were getting into in Dubai, and with Helsinki the wound was just too big. We couldn’t have stopped it.”

“We’ll make it count, right Matt?”

I gritted my teeth for a second, then shrugged it off. _Not my first name._ “I hope we do. Having dB, the Red Berets and some of the SAS on board will help us a lot. We’re working with a lot more resources now compared to some of our recent missions.”

Our communicators rang, and once we saw the captain’s face on it we both raced back to the barracks.

**-//-**

As the elevator doors opened to the command center, an aged man clad in battle armor approached us, a tattered sea captain’s hat held in his hand. His most striking feature was probably his well-kept hair and mustache. Two armed guards accompanied him, and a few more were stationed around where we landed.

“Specialists,” he greeted. “Welcome to Churchill AFB, or Gate to Hell as some of you land-dwellers coined.”

We all stepped out of the elevator into the worn out command center, bustling with life from the machines and men on board. .

“I’ve heard that name before, commander. Certainly fits this place,” responded the captain with a wry smile. 

“Must be grim up there for you lads and lassies to even want to go here.” Said the base commander, as he turned around and began pacing back towards the center of the room. We followed suit.

“We believe there might be a covert assault on Denmark soon, commander. Land-based. The local government has given our team the green light after some negotiations.”

The man stopped to give our squad a stern response. “And you yanks will turn Copenhagen and the likes into debris with your trigger fingers?”

The response prompted Delta to step forward, only for dB to catch her. Crow’s smile was gone. “We’ll be working under the government’s eye, reporting back to Denmark military command. Like how CTUs are supposed to operate. Churchill will only be a temporary stop.”

As the commander went to turn on his heels to continue the walk, the captain stopped him once more with another sentence. “I don’t agree, and _will never_ with the bombing too, commander. There is no need for us to bicker here, when we’re still fighting for the same cause and for the same goal.”

I’d never seen the captain so animated before, nor was she one to share her thoughts on something that could be considered sensitive. 

“Captain.” I voiced out, to try and snap her back into reality.

Although her arms were lowered, the pained look on her face remained. Before anyone else could say anything to the captain, a comms officer on the bridge interjected herself.

“Captain Grimm, we have the SAS team on the line right now.”

She managed to snap the captain out of her anger, shifting her back to her usual stoicism. The captain then stepped to the center of the bridge, where a live view of two SAS operators was shown. dB stepped to the spotlight along with the captain, addressing the two soldiers by their last names.

“Captain.” I voiced out, to try and snap her back into reality.

Although her arms were lowered, the pained look on her face remained. Before anyone else could say anything to the captain, a comms officer on the bridge interjected herself.

“Captain Grimm, we have the SAS team on the line right now.”

She managed to snap the captain out of her anger, shifting her back to her usual stoicism. The captain then stepped to the center of the bridge, where a live view of two SAS operators was shown. dB stepped to the spotlight along with the captain, addressing the two soldiers by their last names.

“Boss,” they replied in unison.

“What’ve you got for me?”

“Things are relatively calm here, boss. We just held a briefing with the Red Berets over the situation in Denmark. What we can tell you right now, is that the terrorists seem to have holed up in one specific location. They’ve not been seen elsewhere for the past day or so.”

“I wonder if they’re onto us already…”

“What’s that, Raptor?” dB asked me.

“Ah,” I’d realized I was thinking out loud at the moment. “Sorry, but is it fair to assume that they’ve noticed us keeping an eye on them?”

“The Red Berets have taken that into consideration, that’s why they’ve sent operators to Sweden and Finland after alerting them. All we need to do is take care of the ones here.”

“Anything further to report?” dB asked the SAS soldiers.

“Nothing further, boss.”

“Alright. We’ll prepare for the mission tomorrow.”

The transmission was ended, and dB immediately went to excuse the squad from the base commander. Then, she ushered us out of the room quietly, the captain included. The walk back to our barracks was quiet, even Delta didn’t have much to say other than glances at the other silent members. 

Once we arrived, dB was the one to speak up first.

“We still have bigots who think the entirety of the US branch is at fault for what happened back then.” She said. “The base commander’s an ol’ geezer, probably actually had family or friends in the strike zone. We only got to stay here for less than 12 hours anyway.”

Though there were no tears to show, I picked up a hint of sadness in the captain’s expression I’d never seen before. It looked like she was deep in a memory, spaced out from the conversation and only staring down at the floor from her seat. 

“Captain. Anything you’d like to add?” I called out, staring at her direction.

“I’m leaving tactical command to dB for this mission, like originally suggested. I’d like to remind the squad that this mission is of great importance to the entirety of the Union. Let’s do our best, as usual.”

-to be continued-

**Author's Note:**

> HI! Welcome to my series named "Project Peacekeeper". I don't have much to say right now aside from thank you, to you reader, for taking your time to read this. I don't have any information to give about my uploading schedule, but I'll try to upload as frequently as possible, trying to preserve the quality first. I hope you'll stay until the series finishes.


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